“Let our testimony be our pen.” – Anonymous African American Male from Chicago I found myself rushing to get my lunch from the Reading Terminal Market so I could eat it while listening to Alfred W. Tatum yesterday afternoon. My sandwich landed up sitting in the bag for an hour and 15 minutes since I… Continue reading Tatum: Using the Pen to Rescue to Power
Author: Stacey Shubitz
Stacey Shubitz is a K-6 literacy consultant and former elementary teacher. She is the author of CRAFT MOVES and other professional books on writing workshop. Her forthcoming book, MAKE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WORK FOR YOUR CHILD WITH DISABILITIES (Guilford Press, 2026), empowers parents to navigate the special education system.
Change & Personal Narratives
“There is nothing permanent except change.” – Heraclitus As a child, I didn’t know much about change. I moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey when I was a baby. I switched schools in the fall of sixth grade, thereby dividing the first thirteen years of my schooling between two educational institutions. I lived under the… Continue reading Change & Personal Narratives
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Slicin’
Please link your Slice of Life Story to this post by leaving a comment.
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Writing About Thanks
There's just a little over a week to go before Thanksgiving. Do you know what you're most thankful for? Want to ruminate about the things you're most thankful for through writing? If so, take a cue from Molly Irwin's Blog, where she writes about the idea of recording the things for which you're… Continue reading Writing About Thanks
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Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos
NCTE's Annual Convention in Philadelphia in next week. I'm delighted to be chairing a session for some educators from California entitled "Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos into 4th and 5th Grade Language Arts Classes." Here's the description of the session from the Convention Program: The presenters will discuss (1) how blogs were integrated into… Continue reading Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos
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Ah, to be 13 again. Well, not really.
I’ve had 13, a collection of short stories edited by James Howe, sitting in my bookshelf for the past few years. I bought it based on the recommendation of a staff developer at the TCRWP who shared Rachel Vail’s “Thirteen and a Half” at a Calendar Day I attended. Since the book is geared towards… Continue reading Ah, to be 13 again. Well, not really.
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November 11th
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Formal and Informal Writing with Conventions
I use conventions in my writer’s notebook and in e-mails. I tend to write with proper conventions when I’m IM-ing since I know it makes my message easier for my reader to decode when we’re writing back and forth rapidly. I write with conventions when I jot notes to my husband. I consistently write with… Continue reading Formal and Informal Writing with Conventions
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SOLSC
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Making Characters Talk
Dialogue. It's something we wish students would use purposefully inside of a piece of writing. Too often, when our students do write with dialogue, it sounds like this: "Hi," I said. "Hi," my sister said. "What do you want to do today?" I said. "I don't know," she said. "Let's go to the park," I… Continue reading Making Characters Talk
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Share Your Slices
Happy Election Day! Whether you're teaching today, attending professional development (I'm personally leading a session on conferring, so I'll be posting my Slice later today.), or have the day off, please remember to get out and vote!
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Publishing Books with Students
This past Monday I heard Kwame Alexander, who is a poet (He trained with Nikki Giovanni at Virgina Tech!), author, and founder of Book-in-a-Day, speak at the KSRA Conference in Hershey, PA. My handwritten notes from his talk about engaging students with poetry are at the bottom of this post. Alexander founded Book-in-a-Day, Inc., or… Continue reading Publishing Books with Students
